9 Days Before
P.3

Lin and Opel dashed through the forest, the distant echoes of screams fueling their desperate escape. They assumed those faint voices belonged to the pursuing Guards, hot on their heels.

Suddenly, Opel tripped on an unseen branch, his face hitting the ground with a grunt.

Lin immediately backtracked and helped him up, their momentum halted for a moment, then continued their race.

They leaped over sprawling tree roots and navigated through the tangle of low-hanging branches.

Emerging onto the streets, their feet embracing the asphalt.

Lowering his hood, his wet hair clung to his forehead as he turned to Opel, checking on his friend's condition.

Engaging in a quick exchange, they shared their satisfaction at successfully evading the Tower's clutches this time.

Amid their relief, Lin's mind drifted to the enigmatic lady who had crossed their path.

Unlike the Guards, she hadn't been chasing them at all.

"I mean, what was that... she even said hello in such a strange way," Lin mused.

Opel's response was playful, tugging at Lin and teasing, "You met a girl!?"

Lin chuckled, responding, "Well, she just said 'hi... there'."

Their conversation continued, but it was abruptly interrupted by faint voices that seemed to emanate from the forest.

Suspicion filled the air as they instinctively sought cover.

Opel's voice took on a heavier tone, his heart burdened with the memory of Kel.

"I miss Kel," he admitted with a sigh.

Lin empathized, offering reassurance, "I do too. We'll figure out what happened back there."

Opel's frustration flared, though, as he vented about the prospect of being caught and enduring the eerie abandoned building, his emotions surged as he picked up a rock and hurled it across the street.

"I think... It's time for you to do this on your own, Lenny," Opel finally said, his voice tinged with a mix of resignation and determination.

Surprised by the use of his childhood nickname, Lin's emotions churned.

He sought to understand Opel's perspective, and they engaged in a tense exchange, grappling with the pain of the past.

Opel's words hit hard, an accusation that couldn't be unsaid.

A heavy silence hung between them before Lin retreated, his hood shielding him from further conversation, as he ran down the street trying to compress on what Opel had said "you're the one who killed Kel!"

amidst the phrases of him being the one who took the group to the house that night, and that it was his fault that they got caught when they fled the scene, he had escaped but Opel did not, amalgamating his feelings into an ambivalence.

Opel stood there, wrestling with the weight of his words and the potential consequences of his outburst in silence, watching the fleeting figure of Lin, he looks down, his face grimacing as his thoughts drifted to the unforgiving acts that the Tower workers did to him in there, shifting more blame onto Lin.

---

Eve awoke in a padded room, surrounded by her science equipment.

She surveyed her unfamiliar surroundings, a reflection captures her glance, seeing her reflection staring back from the one-way mirror.

Eve adventures closer to the mirror.

She takes in her deprived state, perceiving her untreated bob-cut hair, Eve inches closer to the reflection - her eyes casting a soft dark underline.

An unsettling feeling of being observed tugged at her senses. She scrutinized the ceiling corners, searching for hidden cameras, her mind recalling their miniature, high-tech forms.

Finding none, she was left with stark white walls and her scientific instruments.

As she gingerly placed her weight on her feet, searing pain shot through her legs and spine.

She crumpled to the floor, a sense of helplessness washing over her.

Refusing to succumb, she clung to the edge of the bed and pulled herself up, the sheets unraveling as she fought for stability.

Sitting against the padded wall, she found a modicum of comfort, comparing it to the feeling of lying on another bed.

Reflecting on her surroundings, she murmured, "Surprisingly comfy," her voice echoed softly in the sterile space.

Attempting to trigger her memory, she recalled her last interactions before her captivity. Her thoughts drifted to her office, new patients, and an elusive hooded figure.

A memory of an accident flitted through her mind, fragments of a puzzle she struggled to piece together.

As Eve pondered, she absentmindedly fiddled with a pen she found in her pocket, puzzling over its significance.

Suddenly, the ceiling gave way, releasing a torrent of gas into the room.

Panic gripped Eve as memories of Patient: 520 flooded her mind. Visions of a sinister grin overcame her.

Her chest tightened as she struggled to remain composed.

Haunting voices reached her ears, "Oh... Eve, that was too easy." Memories of the patient's words flooded back, intertwining with the present.

A strange force pulled at her memories, revealing unsettling connections.

Tears welled in her eyes as she confronted her inner demons, the weight of her visions almost too much to bear.

The room seemed to shift and distort as Eve's mind raced, her surroundings transformed into a surreal dreamscape.

Amid the chaos of her mind, she heard a series of voices, each vying for her attention.

The voice of a long-lost friend stood out among them, both familiar and distant.

Senses of longing and sadness tugged at her heartstrings.

"Eve, forever," she whispered to herself, the words a fragile connection to her past.

However, the figure within her mind seemed dissatisfied with her recollections, introducing confusion and disarray.

"Build it!" the voices echoed, demanding her attention. Flashes of inexplicable images surged through her mind, sending her spiraling into uncertainty.

Amid the turmoil, Eve clung to her pen, its familiarity grounding her as the room seemingly collapsed around her.

---

Lin scaled the vines, slipped through his window, and cautiously sealed it shut, as he turned around, his eyes met the gaze of an unfamiliar figure lurking in the shadows near his door.

With shock he turns on his lamp light, seeing that the figure had vanished, then turns it off, eyeing the area - seeing nothing there he moved past it, convincing himself it was a trick of the mind.

Crawling into bed, he pulled the sheets over himself, seeking solace and safety.

With a cheap pair of headphones and his phone, he attempted to drown out the world with music, light from the phone created a soft night light from the outside, he flipped through his playlist landing on a song he knew would comfort him.

The title of his chosen song, "I'm Your Angel," whispered in his thoughts.

Soothing lyrics enveloped him, gradually erasing the figure's presence from his mind, replacing the thoughts of the events from the previous night, streaming with tonight's occurrences.

Listening to the music he feels the ambivalence stirring, the song being deafened by the drowning tug of the recollection.

"You 'killed' him.." his nasolabial folds shift up, having his nose slightly wrinkled, Lin's brow squishes downwards.

His mind gathers the scene.

"Hey, so this is random - but can you come explore a house with us." he had said to Kel on the phone, his voice echoing in the memory.

"yeah - sure, I could sneak out and meet you guys there." Lin's heart captures a string of pain, the sensation crossing his chest.

"Kel! -- Kel!" the scene changes, the reverberating voice grasps onto his mind. Lin's head starts to tighten with pain.

"we need to run, just run-now!" It continues. Lin pulls himself back, tears slowly trickling down his face. his chest pounds.

Lin shifts himself inside his blanket cocoon, laying on his side, the tears reacting - sliding down the changed route.

Flashback forms.

"we need to go back! - we need to-"

"Opel!"

"what!" The two exchanged an intensifying commune. Lin stands there trying to compel himself to go back, his feet blistering from the sprint. Opel paces back-in-forth, his hands clenching his head periodically.

Lin's feet start to feel the cold embrace of the asphalt.

"We have to.." Opel looks at Lin, he can feel Opel's emotion emitting through the darkened night.

"We have to go back for him.." Opel repeats, looking down, then over towards the general location of the incident, Opel's sorrowful emotions clung to the air. Lin fighting the grasping cold on his soles walks up to him, reaching out towards Opel's shoulder.

Opel looks when he feels Lin's hand resting on his shoulder blade, seeing Lin silently nodding to confirm the need to go back.

The two scurry their way back towards the yellow house, seeing a person's car parked across the street.

They peer up into the windows to see a golden-ish hued light traveling inside.

Opel and Lin look at each other with a ghost complexion, lining their thoughts together and if the person inside will see Kel.

A flash recaptured their attention, the pair looked over at the house to see intervals of white sprites.

"Do you think..." Opel murmurs, Lin looks over at him. "Someone is taking pictures?" He adds to the connection, as they regain their focus a man comes out of the house, having an object in hand, they strain their sight seeing the vacancy of a camera.

"Could be his phone..." Opel suggests, Lin looks at him and nods. However on closer inspection the object within the man's hands resembles a blade.

The ball-cap hatted man examines the knife, twisting it about within his grasp as he strolls to their car.

A clunking sound branches out into the street as the car door opens up, the man slowly shuffles himself inside, having a thud following the door.

The car - an older model hums to life, its headlights shine into the darkened street then begins to drive away.

Lin and Opel believe that the man didn't witness Kel within the yellow house, if he did they wouldn't have carried a calming posture.

"He would've seen him - if those were pictures being taken up in the hallway...then surely.." Lin added to an inquiry as they gradually compel themselves to go back into the house, Lin following Opel’s lead - Opel leading in silence.

As the two approached the yard of the house, headlights from behind them acted like a spotlight, they swiftly turned around, blinded by the intense light of the Towers carrier.

"Tower guards!?" Opel yelled, having a distant recall of the type of headlights that were used for their carrier.

Lin's recollection of the night clouded away as he shifted himself over to his other side - facing the bedroom door.

His head throbbing, grimacing in pain as Opel's words from tonight clung to him.

His chest burning and his mind pounding as he hears his cutting words faintly echo.

The song changes, this time breaking the intensity of the pairing night's occurrences.

With a struggle, he surrendered to the music, allowing it to carry him away from the unsettling events.

Eventually, his consciousness faded, cold stained tears printed onto his cheeks and the side of his head as he drifted off to slumber.

Outside, drifting away into the night sky, dark particles merged with the rain clouds, their form blending with the gathering darkness.

---

Opel walked along a seemingly endless road, grappling with the remorse of his hurtful words to Lin.

Regrets weighed heavily on him, his past mistakes and harsh judgments haunting his thoughts. Even the name "Lenny," once used in jest, held a deep significance.

Determined to reach the familiarity of home, he pressed on, the tendrils of fog snaking around his legs.

Though the mist seemed to cling to him as he continued his trek.

His mind fixated on the solace of a hot bath and perhaps to sneak a swig of his older brother's liquor, the pondering thoughts made the nictitating street lights bulbs go unnoticed.

"I deserve some form of solace tonight," he muttered into the thick fog. His coughing intensified as the mist grew denser, almost consuming him entirely.

The fog had thickened to the point where it was almost as if he had become a part of the darkness, and the street lights were vanishing with.

A comforting voice cut through the fog, calling his name, "Opel."

Startled, Opel looked up, his coughing subsiding momentarily.

"Kel?!" he exclaimed, a mix of emotions swirling within him.

"Hey, Opel," Kel repeated, his voice calm and familiar.

As the fog enveloped him, Kel's face materialized before Opel, he was normal, the past seemingly unaffecting him, however something about Kel sent a shiver down his spine, unease settling in the pit of his stomach.

"Hey, Opel," Kel's voice shifted, a strange distortion coloring his words.

Opel squeezed his eyes shut, attempting to will him away, Kel’s distorted voice taunted him once more.

"Opel~!" The voice changed entirely, unrecognizable and malevolent.

When he opened them again, a shock-wave of pain radiated through Opel's body, veins throbbing with a lasting jolt. The sensation climbed his spine, seizing it in a grip of agony.

Goosebumps erupted on his skin, a piercing screech resonating through his neck.

Electric arcs crackled within the fog, each strike intensifying the pain from his wound.

His body convulsed, and black particles from the mist latched onto him, twisting him further.

Kel gazed upon the thrashing form of Opel, his eyes welling with tears that were instantly wiped away by the void.